







LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




DDDDSbfl7flfl3 








tf^ 




*° ... c - 










».c 



» » > 



.0' 



* B »0 



W 



v^ 






% 



CrV 



,0* • •"•• **b A* 






;• a* 







- 



*<*. 









<>'•' 



03V o 



0° 






He 



*>. 






g >" 












V » * • •» 


* <^//Ivj3i 






^ 


^VSS*' 


<<* 


o. 




« • « "^ G 




, • o -x v 




;'-.•- '■■■''%*& ' $ 




SUB ' •?. 





*°o 



I 



r «v 



. » * 



-***£ 



^c? :^ 



* » « O ' <V V 












•■•W: ; i"- 









a*- ^ 






A* **fi 



,y 






1 (^ 






•*L 






^X 









^o 

^ 



S C 



<{» «♦ « . • . 









6? ^ • ^S| 






°o 



**o* 






j, *?: 



3*^ 



^ /,-f 










T-*. 






"Cvv: 






ig^: 







• » 



> • 



*> v ' * ' ° ' 









/ 


















•. ' » 













\ ••SIR* ** ^ -.^ 


























».• . * x 



o » » 






■^s /x* *jtw£* ^& « v * A ^;^.» ^ a*&- *! 




I 



I 



/ 



T, 






A SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

la * Van I 



.AM 



iENRY HARRISON, 



s 

s CANDIDATE OF TEIJB PK-DPLK 



FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 

To wMcIb is asBBi^xed asi Ajppeudax. 



r*+ 




PRINTED BY JACOB GIDEON, JR., WASHINGTON CITY— 1840. 



•_, ././-./-"^ j J S'S *~J SJ -J J ■*"■* "' 



A SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES 

OF 

GENERAL WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, ' 



The prominent position now occupied by General Harrison before the American peo- 
ple, renders it peculiarly proper that a brief sketch of his life and public services should 
be laid before his fellow-citizens ; for, although his public acts, both in a civil and military 
capacity, have been for die lasting glory and honor of our whole country, yet in conse- 
quence'of his having resided for the greater part of his life among the patriotic and chivalric 
inhabitants of the Western States, they are more familiar with his history than those who 
reside in the east and north. It was this acquaintance with the man, or rather — to make 
use of the endearing appellation by which he lias been universally known — it was this 
acquaintance with die Washington of.the West, that has there produced such a general 
and ardent feeling in his favor ; that the people have, in despite of party dictation, borne 
him triumphantly along, for the highest office in their gift, until there is now nodoubt but 
he will be elected by a most decisive majority. 

It will be apparent, that our efforts to compress the materials of his eventful life in the 
compass of a few pages, has compelled us to omit all those minute illustrations of particu- 
lar facts, which have in reality given to his life all the beauty of romance. To see a 
youth of eighteen years of age, leaving his kindred, and friends, and paternal roof, and 
inspired by a lofty patriotism, marching into the savage wilderness, and battling with the 
enemies of his country ; and then in a few years to find him in the councils of the nation, 
exerting himself to promote the civil institutions he had -so gallantly defended in the field; 
and then again leading the armies of our country to yicjory at the dreadful midnight con- 
flict of Tippecanoe, and at the hard-fought siege of Fort Meigs, and the still more brilli- 
ant victory of the Thames, — together opens a field for meditation, which it is impossible 
to exoress in the few pages we have devoted to the history of his life. To have pursued 
a subject of this kind in all its details, would have been grateful to our feelings, but the 
brevity of our plan will forbid it. We must leave the reader to fill up for himself the 
many omissions we are compelled to make. 

We ought to state, that this compilation is principally taken from the valuable and au- 
then tic history of McAliee on the late war, and from the excellent biographical works oi 
Dawson and Judge Hall. 

William Henry Harrison was born in Virginia, on the 9th of February, 1773. His 
father, Benjamin' Harrison, was one of the patriots of the Revolution. He was a very 
distinguished member of the first Congress of the United States, which met at Philadel- 
phia in 1774, and was one of the most conspicuous of the signers of the Declaration of 
Independence. He afterwards rendered important services to his country, by his energe- 
tic and patriotic measures as governor of his native State, Virginia. This eminent patriot 
died in 1791, leaving his son,' William, under the guardianship of his friend, the celebra- 
ted Robert Morris. 

Young Harrison was educated a; Hampden Sydney College; and, by the advice of his 
friends, turned his attention to the study of medicine. But about the period when he had 
completed his education, soon after the death of his father, the increased and barbarous 
hostilities of the Indians on our northwestern borders, began to excite a feeling of indig- 
nation through the whole country. In this general excitement our young student partici- 
pated so warmly, that he resolved to relinquish his professional puisuits, and join the ar- 
my destined to the defence of the Ohio frontier. 

The war in this part of our country was then assuming a very alarming aspect. The 
Indian tribes, who bad been in the service of Great Britain during our revolutionary 
struggle, had not yet laid down the tomahawk ; but still persisted in their ruthless hostili- 
ties, and in the almost daily commission of their savage atrocities. From the year 1783, 
when Great Britain acknowledged our independence, and war with the mother country 
.ceased, up to the year 1791, it was estimated that more than fifteen hundred of our hardy 
borderers had fallen victims to the riile and scalping knife of their savage foes. Our 



northwestern frontier presented an appalling scene of rapine, conflagration, and wanton 
destruction of life and property. Many Of our border settlements had been crashed in 
their infancy, and" all had been retarded in their growth. Expedition after expedition, nV 
ted out to oppose them, had met with the most disheartening losses ; ami finally a gallant 
army under Brigadier General Harmer, which had been sent expressly to chastise these 
savages, had been signally defeated by them, and almost annihilated. Of the few expe- 
rienced officers who escaped from Ilarmer's defeat, nearly all, worn out with the fatigues 
of a service so harrassing, and shrinking from a warfare of so dangerous and barbarous a 
nature, had resigned their commission, and a feeling of dismay began to pervade the whole 

community. 

Such was the o-loomv aspect of affairs, when the ardent and generous patriotism of 
young Harrison prompted him to give up ths comforts and luxuries that surrounded him 
at home, and peril his life in defence of his fellow-countrymen. He received the commis- 
sion of an ensign in the United States artillery, in the autumn of the year 1 7 J 1 , when 
only eighteen years of age, and hastened immediately to join his regiment, which was 
then stationed at Fort Washington, lie arrived at thai post a few days after the unfortu- 
nate defeat of General St. Clair, near the Miami villages, by the confederate Indians, un- 
der the command of the celebrated chief, Little Turtle. This disastrous defeat, in which 
St. Clair's army was destroyed, with the loss of nearly a thousand men, killed or taken 
prisoners, left the whole of our north-western frontier exposed to the ravages of a merci- 
less enemy, and added greatly to the general consternation before existing. In this state 
of things, our government saw the necessity of adopting immediate and efficient means to 
put an end to this savage conflict. Another army was promptly raised, and the command 
given to General Anthony Wayne — a gallant and skilful officer, who had earned a brilli- 
ant reputation in the revolutionary war. Wayne's Legion, as his army was called in the 
new organization, assembled at Pittsburg, in the summer of 1792 ; and in the ensuing 
month of November, they left that place, and went into winter quarters at Legionville, on 
the Ohio, 22 miles below Pittsburg. About this time Harrison was promoted to Lieute- 
nant ; and shortly alter, he joined Wayne's Legion. His fearlessness and energy, with 
his strict attention to discipline, soon attracted the notice of his commander-in-chief, him- 
self a bold and daring soldier and a rigid disciplinarian; and General Wayne, not long af- 
ter his arrival, selected him as one of his aids-de-camp, at the age of nineteen. 

We have entered thus minutely into this detail, because we wish to point it out at how 
early an age, and in what trying 'times, young Harrison was thought worthy of honorable 
distinction. Lieutenant Harrison acted as aid to General Wayne during the whole of the 
ensuing campaigns, and his bravery and gallant conduct throughout were such, that he 
was repeatedly officially noticed in "terms of the highest encomium. The war was con- 
ducted by General Wayne, with all the cool daring of a veteran soldier, and the sagacity 
of a prudent General, until finally, on the 20th of August,' 1794, he fought the bloody and 
desperate battle of the Miami, in which the confederated Indians, with their allies, were 
totally defeated. Their heavy losses in this battle so disheartened the Indians, that a lew 
months alter, they entered into negotiations for a treaty of peace, giving hostages for their 
good faith ; and thus, with the close of this war, were extinguished what may be consi- 
dered the last embers of our revolutionary struggle. In his despatch to the Secretary of 
War, after this decisive victory, General Wayne, in mentioning those whose good con- 
duct made them conspicuous on this occasion, says — " My faithful and gallant aids-de- 
camp, Captains De Butts and T. Lewis, and Lieutenant Harrison, with the Adjutant 
General, Major Mills, rendered the most essential service, by communicating my orders 
in every direction, and by their conduct and bravery exciting the troops to press for vic- 
tory." 

Soon after this battle, Lieutenant Harrison received the commission of a Captain, and 
was placed in command of Fort Washington, the most important station on the western 
frontier. He remained in the army till the close of the year 1797, when, as there was no 
longer an opportunity to serve his country in the field, he resigned his commission, to com- 
mence his career of civil services. He was almost immediately appointed Secretary, and cx- 
officio Lieutenant Governor of the north-western territory, which then embraced the whole! 
extent of our country lying north-west of the Ohio river ; thus receiving his first civil ap- 
pointment in that part of our country which he had perilled his life to defend. While m 



4 

this station, lie entered so warmly into the interests of the people, and his intelligence and 
the kindness and urbanity of his manners, rendered him so popular, that when, in the fol- 
lowing year, they became entitle,! to representation in the councils of the nation, they al- 
,most unanimously elected him their first delegate to Congress. Mr. Harrison was, at this 
time, about - 3o years of age. He took his seat in the House of Representatives, at the first 
session of the sixth Congress, in December, 1799. There were then in Congress some 
of the ablest and most enlightened statesmen, and some of the most eloquent men our 
country lias ever produced. Yet in this severe ordeal, the abilities and manly energies of 
Mr. Harrison soon commanded universal respect. At this period the all-engrossing sub- 
ject in the West, and one in which our whole country had a deep interest, was the sale of 
our public lands. The manner in which these lands had been hitherto disposed of, had cre- 
ated great dissatisfaction among the people. They had been sold only in large tracts, the 
smallest of which included, at least, four thousand acres. Our hardy yeomanry, with li- 
mited pecuniary means, were thus shut out from all chance of competition with wealthy 
speculators and grasping monopolists, in the purchase of these lands; the poorer emigrants 
were becoming disheartened at the chilling prospect before them, and the settlement of the 
new country was greatly retarded. Fully aware of the impolicy and injustice of this state 
of things, and true to the trust confided in him, Mr. Harrison's earliest legislative efforts 
were made to overthrow this pernicious system. He aroused the attention of Congress to 
the consideration of this important subject, and evinced so intimate an acquaintance with 
the facts and business details connected with it, that he was appointed chairman of a com- 
mittee raised to examine into and report on the existing mode of disposing of the public 
lands. After a proper investigation, lie presented a l-eport, accompanied by a bill, the 
principal object of which was, to reduce- the size of the tracts of public land offered for 
sale, to sueh a smaller number of acres as would place them within the reach of actual set- 
tlers. This masterly report, which was the joint production of himself and Mr. Gallatin, 
together with the great ability and eloquence with which he defended his bill from the 
powerful opposition it encountered in the House, gained Mr. Harrison a reputation rarely 
attained by so young a statesman. The bill was carried triumphantly in the House, and 
finally, after some amendments, passed the Senate. The result was, that the public lands, 
instead of being offered only in large tracts, of which four thousand acres was the smallest, 
size, were now to be sold in alternate sections and half sections; the former containing 
640, and the latter 320 acres each. The point gained was of immense importance, since, 
from the low price of these lands, and the small amount, of purchase money required to be 
paid, they were now within the reach of nearly all the poorer emigrants and actual set- 
tlers, who felt a natural desire to own the fee simple of their homes, and of the lands they 
subdued from the wilderness. Thousands of the hardy and industrious farmers of our 
Northern and Middle States, and many of the poorer planters of the South, availed them- 
selves of the fair field which was now opened for emigration and enterprise ; and we may 
justly consider this happy result, which Mr. Harrison was so instrumental in producing, 
as one of the leading causes of the rapid settlement and prosperity of our western country. 
In the year 1800, the Northwestern territory was divided. That part of the old terri- 
tory, included within the present boundaries of Ohio and Michigan, retained its former 
name ; and the immense extent of country north-west of this, was made a separate territo- 
ry, and received the name of Indiana. Soon after this division had taken place, Mr. Har- 
rison resigned his seat in Congress, and was appointed governor of the new territory. 
This appointment gave great satisfaction to the people of Indiana, with whom the patriotic 
exertions of Mr. Harrison had rendered him deservedly popular ; and it was, at the same 
time, the strongest evidence of die confidence with which the General Government relied 
upon his integrity, prudence, and capacity for civil government. 

The extent of Indiana wis almost boundless. The small population it then contained 
was thinly scattered through avast wilderness, and only three settlements of any note ex- 
isted within its territory. One of these was at Vincennes, the capital ; another at the 
Falls of the Ohio, one" hundred miles distant from Vincennes; and the third was on the 
Mississippi, at a distance of more than two hundred miles from the capital. The commu- 
nication between these remote points was, at all times, difficult and toilsome, and often at- 
tended with great danger. There existed no practicable roads, and nearly all the inter- 
mediate country was occupied by the Indians, or overrun by their hunting-parties. Most 



5 



of these savage tribes, though professing to be friendly, were restless ami diss: : ; sfied, ami 
their leading chiefs still nursed a moody h/)pe of revenge for h mortify ii f d feat they 

had sustained six years before, at the battle of the Miami. , rtful and treacb irous, nume- 
rous, warlike, and thirsting for plunder, they kept this remote frontier in continual excite- 
ment and ai arm. The angry fei four hard) borderer we •■ frequ ntlj roused by 
some robbery or atrocious i n itt< .1 by the more evil-disposed among their sa- 
vage neighbors, and quarrels often ensued, which threatened the peace of the whole com- 
munity. 

Such was the exist-in state of things in Indiana Territory, when Air. Harrison was 
appointed to the a (ministration of its government. As governor of a frontii r lerriti ry so 
peculiarly situated, .Mr. Harrison was invested with, civil powers of the most important 
nature, as well as with military authority. Besides the ordinary power which he held, 
ex-officio, as governor, he had the sole" power of dividing the district into counties and 
townships, and was appointed the general superintendent of Indian affairs. He had like- 
wise the unusual power of conferring oh a numerous class of individuals a legal title to large 
grants of land, on which they before held merely an equitable claim. His solo signature 
was sufficient, without any other formality, to give a valid title to these extensive and va- 
luable tracts of land. Possessed of this 'immense power, opportunities were continually 
b'sfore him of accumulating a princely fortune; but the scrupulous sense of honor, which 
has always characterized Mr. Harrison, would never permit him to speculate in lands 
over which he had any control. And it is a fact worthy of note, that during the whole 
time that he held this important trust, he never availed himself of his peculiar advantages 
to acquire a single acre of laud ; no shadow of suspicion ever doubted his disinterested- 
ness, and not a murmur ever accused him of partiality, or even of unnecessary delay, in 
the performance of this delicate duty. We mention this only to show, that the integrity 
of Mr. Harrison is not merely theoretical, but practical; and that it has always shone with 
the purest lustre when assailed by the strongest temptations. 

In 1803, Mr. Jefferson appointed Governor Harrison sole " commissioner to enter into 
•any treaties which may be necessary with any Indian tribes, north-west ot the Ohio, and 
wlthiu the territory of the United States, on the subject of their boundaries or lands." 
By virtue of this, or a similar authority, during the subsequent course of his administra- 
tion, Harrison effected thirteen important treaties with the different tribes, on the most ad- 
vantageous terms ; and obtained from them, at various times, the cession of large tracts ot 
land, amounting, m all, to more than sixty millions of acres, and embracing a large por- 
tion of the richest region in our country. In their frequent intercourse with Governor 
Harrison, the Indians had learned to respect his undaunted firmness, and were, at the 
same rime, conciliated by his kindness of manner and considerate forbearance. This, 
with his intimate knowledge of the Indian character, is the truf secret of the remarkable 
success that has uniformly attended every treaty he has attempted to effect. 

The various and arduous dudes of the Governor of Indiana required, for this office, a 
man of.very superior abilities — one possessed of stern integrity and prudent moderation, 
accompanied by the most unwavering firmness. Such a man, Governor Harrison, in the 
long course of his administration, fully proved himself to he. The plainest evidence of 
this, to those who are not familiar with the history of Indiana during this period, is the 
fact, that, for thirteen years, at every successive expiration of his term of office, he was 
re-appointed, at the earnest solicitation of the people of the Territory, and with the public 
expression of the mast flattering approbation on the part of our Chief Executive. _ And 
this, too, notwithstanding the entire' change which had taken place within that time in the 
ruling politics of the country — his first appointmenl having been made by Mr. Adams, his 
second and third by Mr. Jefferson, and his fourth, by Mr. Madison. The following ex- 
tract from the resolution, unanimously passed by the House of Representatives of Indiana, 
in the year 1809, requesting the re-appo ntment of Governor Harrison, will show the esti- 
mate which along acquaintance had taught them of his worth: 

" They (die House of Representatives) cannot forbear recommending to, and requesting of, the Pre- 
sident and Senate, most earnestly in their own names, and in the names of their constituents, the re-ap- 
pointment of their present Governor— William Henry Harrison, because he possesses the good wishes and 
affections of a great majority of his fellow-citizens ; because they believe him sincerely attached to the 
Union, the prosperity of the United states, and the administration of its government ; liecause they be- 



lievc him, in a superior degree, capable pf promoting the interest of our Territory ; from iong experience 
;nnl laborious attention to its concerns, from his influence over the Indians, and wise and disinterested 
management of that department ; and because they have confidence in his virtues, talents, and repub- 
licanism."' 

If necessary, we might fill a goodly volume with extracts from public documents of a 
similar nahnc ; but what stronger pr >of than this could we have of the popularity of Gov- 
ernor Harrison, and of the entire confidence with which the people relied on his integrity 
and ability as a statesman? 

In the vear 1805, the celebrated Indian chief, Tecumthe, and his notorious brother, the 
Shawanese prophet, Ol-li-wa-chi-ca, (sometimes called Els-kwa-law-a.) began to create 
disturbances on the frontiers of Indiana. Tecumthe was a bold and daring warrior ; saga- 
cious in council, and formidable in battle. The prophet was a shrewd impostor; cunning, 
artful, and treacherous ; and they were leagued together by the tie of mutual interests, and 
a common hatred to the whites. The object of these crafty intriguers was to form, by 
their own influence and the aid of foreign emissaries, a combination among all the North- 
western tribes of Indians, with the hope that, by a simultaneous attack, they might destroy 
all the whites, or force them from the Valley of the Mississippi. But their designs were 
soon known to Governor Harrison, and, aware of his dangerous situation, his prudence 
and wise policy enabled him, for several years, to hold his savage neighbors in check. 
The following extract from a speech which he delivered to the Legislature of Indiana, in 
1809, will serve to show that he fully understood the nature and cause of the excitement 
then existing among the Indians : 



o 



" Presenting, as we do," said Governor Harrison, " a very extended frontier to numerous and war- 
like tribes of the Aborigines, the state of our relations with them must always form an important and in- 
teresting feature in our local politics. It is with regret that I have to inform you, that the harmony and 
good understanding which it is so much our interest to cultivate with those our neighbors, have, for some 
time past, experienced a considerable interruption, and that we have, indeed, been threatened with hostili- 
ties, by a combination foimed under the auspices of a bold adventurer, who pretended to act under the 
immediate inspiration of the Deity. His character as a prophet would not, however, have given him any 
very dangerous influence, if he had not been assisted by the intrigues and ftdvice of foreign agents, and 
other disaffected persons, who have for years omitted no opportunity of counteracting the measures of the 
Government with regard to the Indians, and filling their naturally jealous minds with suspicions of the 
justice and integrity of our views towards them." 

Two years subsequent to this, in 1811, from petty aggressions, the Indians proceeded 
to more open violence, and acts of decided hostility. The war whoop was again heard 
yelling within the limits of the territory, and every day brought fresh accounts of the 
perpetration of those atrocious deeds of depredation and murder, which always irives the 
first intimation of a savage war. From motives of humanity as well as policy, Governor 
HarrisQii had always endeavored to avoid a war with the Indians ; but when this result 
became unavoidable, he promptly adopted the most ener • ic measures within his limit- 
ed resources, to place the territory in a posture of defence. At his own earnest request, 
and at the solicitation of the people, the President, soon after, directed him to inarch with 
an armed force towards the principal place of rendezvous of the hostile Indians, the Pro- 
phet's town, on the Wabash, near the mouth of the Tippecanoe — where this crafty impostor 
had assembled a body of more than a thousand fierce warriors, ready to obey his will. 

Governor Harrison immediately assembled£ve hundred of the militia and volunteers of 
Indiana. These with a regimen'1 d United States infantry, consisting of three hundred 
and fifty men, commanded by Colonel Boyd, and a small body of volunteers from Ken- 
tucky, constituted his whole available force— amounting in all to about nine hundred ef- 
fective men. As soon as he had disciplined these troops, and trained both the regulars 
and militia in the Indian mode of warfare, he took up his line of march towards the 
Prophet's town. 

He left Fort Harrison, on the Wabash, about sixty miles above Vincennes, on the 
28th of October, 1811. Profiting by his own early experience, [this was seventeen 
years after the battle of Miami,] and the remembered example of his old friend and com- 
mander, General Wayne, his march through a wild country to Tippecanoe, was conduct- 
ed with so much skill and prudence, that he avoided all danger of ambuscade or surprise 
from the savage foe. On the 6th of November, the army arrived within five or six miles 
of the Prophet's town. According to the instructions he had received from the Presi- 



dent, Governor Harrison immediately sent in a flag of truce, to endeavor to open an ami-' 
cable negotiation with the hostile Indians. To this overture, the Prophet returned a deceit- 
ful reply — he professed the most pacific intentions, and agreed to meet Harrison the next 
day in council, with his chiefs, to settle definitely the terms of peace. But Harrison 
knew too well the treachery of his artful antagonist to allow himself to be deceived by 
his specious professions, or lulled into any fancied security. He carefully selected the 
most eligible and defensible position for his encampment, and ordered his troops to lie 
upon their arms all night, that they might be in readiness, at a moment's warning, to 
repel any sudden attack of the enemy. The sequel proved that these precautions were 
wisely adopted. — An anxious night passed away without interruption; but about four 
o'clock, on the following morning, two hours before day light, a sentinel at one of the 
outposts discovered an Indian creeping stealthily towards the camp. He immediately 
gave the alaim, and almost at the same instant, a strong body of the enemy rushed to- 
wards the encampment, with the most savage yells. They made a furious charge on the 
left of the camp; and so sudden and desperate was their onset, that the guard stationed in 
that quarter, gave way, at first, to tiieir iierce assailants. But these brave troops soon ralli- 
ed, and retrieved the ground they had lost. The camp fires were extinguished with all 
possible haste, and the battle was now waged on more equal terms. Our gallant troops 
fought with the most daring intrepidity, and their savage foes evinced a desperate valour 
worthy of a better cause. The battle raged with <jn:at fury till the dawn of day, when a 
simultaneous charge was made upon the enemy, on either flank, and they were speedilv put 
to flight, with a ffreat loss, and the battle terminated. During all this time, the falsePro- 
phet had been seated at a sale distanee from the field of battle, chantino a war-song and 
promising victory to his deluded brethren. 

The battle of Tippecanoe was one of the most spirited and best fought actions recorded in the annals 
of our Indian wars. The numbers and the weapons on either side were nearly equal; and the Indian?. 
contrary to their usual custom, fought hand to hand, and with the fiercest bravery. Every man in this 
battle encountered his share of dangi r, but no man was in more personal peril than Governor Harrison 
himself— well known to many of the Indians, and the object of their peculiar attack— his fearless and un- 
shrinking exposure, makes it seem almost a miracle that he should have escaped unwounded. In refer- 
ring to the coolness and intrepidity ot Governor Harrison, on this occasion, we cannot refrain from mak- 
ing the following extracts from a journal published in 1SL6, by a private soldier, who fought in this bat- 
tle, and who could have had no interested -motives for his publication: " General Harrison," he savs 
" received a shot through the rim of his hat. In the heat of the action, his voice was frequently heard,' 
and easily distinguished, giving his orders in the same calm, cool, and collected manner, with which we 
had been used to receive them on drill or parade. The < nfid ai< e of the troops in the General was un- 
limited." The same writer, in speaking of Harrison's kindness to the soldiers, and his influence over 
them, remarks: " He appeared not disposed to detain any man against his i ion; being endowed by 

nature with a heart as humane as brave, in his frequenf addresses to the militia, his eloquence was formed 
to persuade ; appeals were made to reason as well as feeling, and never were they made in vain." 

An incident that occurred at this time, is worth recording. The night before the battle, an indivi- 
dual belonging to the camp, who had been missing, was arrested near the Governor's marquee, under very 
suspicious circumstances. He was tried by a court-martial for desertion to the enemv, and for an attempt 
to assassinate the Governor. Sufficient evidence was found to convict him, and "he was sentenced to 
death ; yet such were the humane feelings of Harrison, that he could not induce himself to sign the order 
for his execution As the criminal attempt had been made against his own life, he felt himself privileged 
to exercise his benevolence towards the offender, and the misguided wretch was suffered to escape the just 
punishment of his crime. It would have been more in accordance with the principles of strict justice, to 
have allowed the law to take its own course in this instance ; but the circumstances of the case were very 
peculiar, and Governor Harrison's conduct evinced a magnanimity and humanity of heart rarely equalled. 
_ The importance of the victc ry at Tippecanoe cannot he too highly estimated. It quelled the haughty 
spirit of the discontented and hostile Indians, and defeated the plan which they had almost. matured, of 
attacking and destroying our scattered border settlements in detail. Had we lost this battle, our army 
must have been annihilated— the whole of our defenceless frontier would have been left to the mercy of 
sanguinary and unsparing savages, and the consequent loss of life, and destruction of property would have 
been almost incalculable. 

The President, in his message to Congress, dated December 18th, 1812, makes the following honor- 
able mention of this battle : " While it is deeply to be lamented," says Mr. Madison, " that so many valua- 
ble lives have been lost in the action which took place on the 9th ultimo, Congress will see, with satisfac- 
tion, the dauntless spirit and fortitude victoriously displayed by every description of troops engaged, a* 
well as the collected firmness which distinguished their commander, on an oceasion requiring the utmost 
exertion of valor and discipline." 



?! 

The fjegielature ofTTcrrtHcfcy, at (heir anstung session, expressed their high Sense of Governor Ham* 
son's good conduct on this occasion, by the following complimentary resolution : 

" Resolved, That in the lato campaign against the Indians; on the Wabash, Governor W. Ji. Harri- 
son has, in the opinion of this Legislature, behaved like a Aero, a patriot, and a general ; and that for his 
cool, deliberate, skillful, and gallant conduct, in the late battle of Tippecanoe, he deserves the warmest 
thanks of the nation." 

This encomium came from those whose friends and neighbors had paricipated in the late cam- 
paign, and who were consequently familiar with its details, and with the merits of the commander. 

War was declared against Great Britain in 1812. Prior to this event, British agents had, for a long 
time, bean tampering with the discontented Indians within our territory, and bad bribed them with pre ■> 
eents, and furnished them with fire-arms, to induce them to renew their hostilities against our country, 
The crafty and daring Tecumthe, too, was once more in the field. Urged on by his savage eloquence, by 
their own native love for war and plunder, and by the atrocious intrigues of foreign agents, the Northwest- 
ern Indians again raised the war-whoop, and commenced their barbarous system of warfare Their cruel 
murders and depredations became of frequent occurrence, and the wailing of bereaved mothers and orphans, 
and the bitter complaints of those who had eicaped from the conflagration of their plundered homes, exci- 
ted the commis.-.eration of our hardy borderers, and roused a general feeling of indignation. Such was the 
state of excitement in our frontier settlements in the summer of 18)2. 

Immediately after the declaration of war. our western governors promptly adopted every measure in 
their power, for the defence of their respective States and Territories. But conscious of the great abilities 
and experience of Harrison, they placed the utmost reliance on his counsels, and looked on him as the 
leader under whom they might hope for success against the common enemy He aided Governor Ed- 
wards in placing the frontier of Illinois in a posture of defence, and soon after was invited by Governor 
Scott, of Kentucky, to a conference in relation to the Kentucky troops, which had been raised for the de- 
fence of the frontier. He accepted this invitation, and met Governor Scott at Frankfort, where he was 
received with the acclamations of the people, and with the highest civil and military -honors. These pub- 
lic marks of the high estimation in which Harrison was held by the people, were shortly after followed by 
proofs still more flattering, of their confidence in his patriotism, his abilities, and his military skill. 

Governor Scott had levied an armed force of more than five thousand militia and volunteers, com- 
manded by some of the ablest men and most experienced officers in the State. Two thousand of these 
troops were ordered for immediate service; anil they -had no sooner learned that they were destined to 
march to the aid of their fellow-countrymen on the frontier, than they at once unanimously expressed the 
most earnest desire to be placed under the command of Governor Harrison. This desire was responded 
to by the wishes of the people throughout the State. The laws of Kentucky, however, would not permit 
any other than a citizen to hold a command in the State militia. In this dilemma, Governor Scott con- 
sulted with the venerable Sheiby. (the governor elect.) the Hon. Henry Clay, and other distinguished 
citizens of the State ; and by their unanimous advice, he gave Harrison a brevet commission of major- 
general in the Kentucky militia, with express authority to take command of the gallant troops about to 
march to the frontier. This was a bold and unprecedented measure, but one that gave unbounded satis- 
faction to both soldiers and citizens, and one fully warranted by the peculiar exigencies of the case. These 
facts speak volumes in favor of the remarkable popularity which General Harrison enjoyed in a popula- 
tion of brave and chivalrie people. 

About this time, the cowardice and imbecility of General Hull tamely surrendered to the British the 
important post of Detroit, with tiie gallant force which composed its garrison. This event spread eon- 
sternarion far and wide, through the western country, and greatly increased the difficulty and arduous 
nature of Governor Harrison's duties. He immediately organized the brave troops under his command, 
and commenced a course of rigid discipline and military training, with the confident hope of retrieving the 
disasters conscqueut upon the cowardly surrender of Detroit. 

Soon after, he was appointed a brigadier-general in the service of the United States. But, as the 
chief command of the western army was conferred on Gerteral Winchester, Harrison declined accepting 
the commission tendered him, and gave up his command, to return to Indiana, and resume the duties of 
his territorial government. 

General Winchester was an old revolutionary soldier, and a brave and meritorious officer ; but one 
who was not, like Harrison, possessed of the enthusiastic confidence of the army. Governor Harrison 
exerted every effort in his power to reconcile the troops to this change. But soon after he left them, their 
displeasure at having been deprived of their favoritc*coinmander was not confined to murmurs, but crea- 
ted disaffection and almost mutiny. 

No sooner was the President made aware of the condition of the armv, and of the almost unanimous 
wishes of the Western people, than he immediately appointed Harrison, in place of Winchester, com- 
mander-in-chief of the the Northwestern army. The despatch conveying this appointment, overtook him 
on his way to Indiana, and he returned, without, delay, to the armv. 

The powers confened on Harrison, as commander-in-chief of the Northwestern army, were of great 
extent, and he was left to exercise them according to his own unrestricted judgment. In the despatch 
containing this appointment, dated September 17th, 1812. the Secretary of War says: "You will com 
mand such means as may be practicable ; exercise your own discretion, and act in all cases according to 
your own judgment;" thus conferring upon him extiaordinarv and almost unlimited power. We refer 
to fhifi, merely that we may here notice the remarkable fact, that, though vested with unusual powers, 



General Harrison was never known, during the' whole of his command, io eXeTdtee his authority in an on- 
just or oppressive manner. His measures wore energetic, but always qualified by his characteristic mode- 
ration and humanity, and by a regard for the feelings of even tlie meanest soldier in his camp. 

The duties that devolved on General Harrison, in his new station, were arduous beyond description* 
The troops under his command, though brave, were, mostly inexperienced and undisciplined recruits ; ami 
the army was badly equipped, and nearly destitute of baggage and military stores. With these limited 
means, and under these unfavorable circumstances, he -was required to defend an immense extent of iron-- 
tier, stretching along the shores of the great northern lakes, whose numerous harbors and rivers were easy 
of access to the enemy. In addition to this, the roads leading to those points which most required de- 
fence, were nearly impassable, and lay, for hundreds of miles, through a wilderness swarming with hostile 
Indians, and through gloomy and dangerous swamps, where the troops, though little encumbered with 
baggage, could advance but slowly, and with great fatigue. Under all these difficulties, the spirits of the" 
soldiers were sustained by the presence and example of their favorite commander, who animated them in 
their fatigues, and cheerfully endured the same hardships and privations which they encountered. 

The autumn and eaily part of the winter were spent in active and laborious preparations for the ap- 
proaching summer campaign ; roads were cut, depots formed, forts built, and a few expeditions were sent 
out to protect our outposts, and keep the enemy in check. One of these expeditions, consisting of a de- 
tachment of six hundred men, under Lieutenant Colonel Campbell, was sent by General Harrison against 
a fortified Indian village, from which our troops had suffered much annoyance. This enterprise was con- 
ducted with great skill and success. The village was attacked in the most gallant manner, and, after a 
desperate action of more than an hour, was carried at the point of the bayonet. From the general order 
issued by Harrison, on the return of this expedition, we make the following extract, which will convey 
some idea of the humane and generous feelings that have always characterized both his public and private 
conduct. After awarding these gallant troops the high meed of praise which their bratery had won, he 
goes on to say : " But the. character of this gallant detachment, exhibiting, as it did, perseverance, forti- 
tude, and bravery, would, however, be incomplete, if, in the midst of victory, they had forgotten the feel- 
ings of humanity. It is with the sincerest pleasure that the General has heard that the most punctual 
obedience was paid to his orders, in not only saving all the women and children, but in sparing all the 
warriors who ceased to resist, and that even when vigorously attacked by the enemy, the claims of mercy 
prevailed over every sense of their own danger, and this heroic hand respected the lives of their prisoners. 
Let an account of murdered innocence be opened in the records of Heaven against out enemies alone.- 
The American soldier will follow the example of his Government; and the sword of the one will not be 
raised against the fallen and helpless, nor the gold of the other be paid for the scalps of a massacred en<?-- 
my." What a contrast do these noble sentiments present to the atrocious conduct of the British General, 
Proctor, who, at the cruel massacre at Raisin River, and elsewhere, basely permitted unresisting prisoners 
of war to be butchered, by his savage allies, in cold blood ! 

Late in the season the army went into winter quarters at their strongly- fortified position on the banks 
of the Miami, near the rapids, which was called Camp Meigs, in honor of the patriotic Governor of Ohio. 
Leaving the army at that station, General Harrison proceeded to Cincinnati, to procure reinforcements of 
men, and supplies of provisions and military stores, for the approaching campaign. But early in the 
spring, intelligence was received that the British were making extensive preparations, arid concentrating 
a large, force of regular soldiers, Canadians, and Indians, to besiege Fort Meigs. On obtaining this infor- 
mation, General Harrison hastened to his camp, and exerted the most strenuous efforts, to prepare for this 
[threatened attack of the enemy. His presence cheered the troops, and he inspired them with fresh ardor, 
on the approach of the enemy, by an eloquent address, in which he alluded modestly, but in the most 
animating manner, to the neighboring battle-field, where General Wayne had gained the brilliant victory 
of the Miami, and where he himself had won the brightest of his earlier laurels. 

On the 28th of April, 1813, the scouts brought in intelligence of the arrival of the enemy. On the 
same day, a strong force of British and Indians ascended the river in boats, and disembarked, partly on 
the southeastern shore, and partly on the opposite side of the river. Here they immediately commenced 
the construction of three powerful batteries. Corresponding traverses were made within the Fort, and 
every approach of the enemy was met and foiled with consummate skill and bravery. 

On the 1st of May, the batteries of the enemy being completed, they opened a heavy cannonading, 
which was returned with equal vigor from the Fort. This cannonading was continued, without inter- 
mission, for five days ; but owing to the skilful dispositions of General Harrison, it was attended with very 
little loss on our side. 

On the 5th of May, a gallant reinforcement of Kcntuekians, under General Clay, fought their way to 
the camp ; and Harrison, availing himself of this occurrence, promptly ordered a sortie to be made trom 
the Fort to destroy the batteries ef the enemy. The detachment ordered to this service consisted of three 
hundred and fifty men, a part of whom were regulars, and the remainder volunteers and Kentucky militia, 
under the command of Colonel Miller, of the United States army. These brave troops attacked a body of 
British regulars and Indians, of more than double their number ; but the impetuosity of their charge was 
irresistible, and, after a severe struggle, they drove the enemy from the batteries. They spiked the can- 
non, took a large number of prisoners, and. having fully accomplished their object, returned in triumph to 
the Fort. This sortie was one of the most sanguinary and desperate actions fought during the whole 
war, and its brilliant success was richly merited by the intrepid gallantry of the brave troops engaged in it. 

Thwarted by the skilful dispositions of Harrison, and by the battle, or, rather, succession of bathes, 



10 

fought on the 5th, Proctor was compelled to abandon the siege of Fort Meigs ; and on the 8th of May, 
he broke up his camp, and retreated in disappointment and disgrace. 

Thus terminated the glorious defence of Fort Meigs. Harrison, soon after, left General Clay in 
command of that important post, and, unwearied in his exertions, proceeded to more difficult and arduous 
duties, at other exposed stations. • 

The unceasing elforts of the British, and the restless spirit of Tecumthe, allowed our troops but little 
time to recover from their severe fatigues. In less than two months after the siege of Fort Meigs had been 
abandoned, the Indians assembled a formidable body of more than live thousand warriors, under their most 
noted chiefs, and asrain threatened an attack on that fortress. On receiving this intelligence, General 
Harrison, with a small body of regulars, hastened to Fort Meigs, by forced marches, and fortunately 
arrived there before the enemy. Leaving a reinforcement with General Clay, he returned, without delay, 
to his more active duties. 

During the whole of this interesting campaign, the vigilance and the intrepidity of General Harrison, 
with the bravery of his soldiers, enabled him to keep a far superior force of the enemy in check, and to 
protect the wide extent of our exposed frontier. 

At about the period when the enemy invested Fort Meigs for the second time, they made a desperate 
attack on Fort Stephenson, a temporary depot at Lower Sandusky, which was bravely and successfully 
defended by Major Croghan, of the regular service. 

We lay beibre our readers the following short extracts from an address to the public, relative to this- 
affair, which was voluntarily published by the general, field, and staff officers of General Harrison's army. 
After expressing their " regret and surprise that charg< s as improper in form as in substance, should have 
been made against General Harrison, during the recent investment of Lower Sandusky," they go, on to say s 

"He who believes that with our dis] osable I'orcc, and under the circumstances which then occurred, 
General Harrison ought to have advanced upon the enemy, must be left to correct his opinion in the 
school of experience. — On a review of the course then adopted, we are decidedly of the opinion, that it 
was such as was dictated by military wisdom, and by a due regard to our circumstances, and to the situa- 
tion of the enemy* * * * And with a ready acquiescence, beyond the mere claims of military duty, we are 
prepared to obey a General, whose measures meet our most deliberate approbation, and merit that of his 
country." 

The chivalrous and noble-spirited Cronhan, who was one of the signers of the above, address, about 
the same time published another paper on this subject, dated from Lower Sandusky, in which he says : 

" I have, with much regret, seen in some of the public prints, such misrepresentations respecting my 
refusal to evacuate this post, as are calculated not only to injure me in the estimation of military men, but 
also to excite unfavorable impressions as to the propriety of General Harrison's conduct relative to 
this affair. 

" His character as a military man is too well established to need my approbation or support. But his 
public services entitles him at least to common justice. This affair docs not furnish cause of reproach. 
If public opinion has been lately misled respecting his late conduct, it will require, but a moment's cool, 
dispassionate reflection, to convince them of its propriety. The measures recently adopted ly him, so jar 
from deserving censure, are the clean •! pm fi fhis ' i penetration and able generalship" 

Disappointed in their hopes of plunder, and dispirited by the numerous defeats they had sustained, the 
savage allies of the British had become discontented ; the second siege of Fort Meigs had been aban- 
doned, and gradually the enemy entirely withdrew from our territory, and concentrated their forces at 
Maiden, their principal stronghold in Upper Canada. It will thus be seen, that the skill with which 
General Harrison had conducted his defensive operations, the only resource left him in the tace of a supe- 
rior foe, had been eminently successful, and had not only protected our widely extended frontier, but had 
eventually forced the enemy to retire, mortified and humbled by defeat, from our country. 

The" activity and enterprise of General Harrison did not long permit the enemy to rest, after their 
retreat from our territory. J fe immediately commenced preparations for carrying the war into their own 
country, and formed his plan for the capture of Maiden, ami the conquest of Upper Canada; 

Commodore Perry had been instructed to co-operate with General Harrison,. with the ileet under his 
command, and, by a happy coincidence, that gallant hero gained his glorious victory on Lake Erie, and 
captured the entire squadron of the enemy, just about the time when General Harrison had matured his 
plans for the invasion of Canada. 

On the 27th of September, the troops embarked at Sandusky Bay, and advanced towards Maiden, 
expecting to find the British and Indians encamped there in full force. But upon landing on the Canada 
shore, they found that Proctor, disheartened by his recent defeats, had abandoned that stronghold, after 
having destroyed the fort and navy yard, and had retreated with his regulars and savage allies to Sand- 
wich. Our army encamped at Maiden, and the patriotic troops could not —strain their exultation, on 
having gained possession of the fortress from which had issued, for years past, those ruthless bands of 
savages, which had swept over our extended frontier like the wing of the destroying angel, leaving death 
and destruction only in their path. 

Our army advanced rapidly in pursuit of the enemy, and overtook them on the 5th of October, at a 
place which is destined to be remembered as the battle-ground of one of the most remarkable and decisive 
actions fought during the war. 

General Proctor, having had his choice of ground, occupied a strong position, flanked on the left by 
the liver Thames, and on tho right by a swamp, beyond which were posted two theusand Indians, unde-r 



11 

Tecumthe. But Proctor committed an irretrievable error, in placing his regular soldiers in open order 
and extending his line by placing the files at a distance of three or four feet from each other. 

The American army advanced in order of battle, and, when in the immediate neighborhood of t*o 
enemy, the reconnbitering parties brought in intelligence of the dispositions Proctor had made. Harri- 
son, with the rapid decision of an able general, instantly availed himself of the error of his opponent, and 
ordered Colonel Johnson to charge the enemy's line in column, with his regiment of mounted Kentucki- 
ans. The extended and weakened line of the enemy could offer but a feeble resistance to the charge of 
these gallant troops, who dashed through their ranks with overwhelming impetuosity, and formed and 
attacked them in the rear. Panic-struck by this bold and unexpected manoeuvre, and at being assailed 
both in front and rear, the British threw down their arms in dismay, and the whole army was captured, 
with the exception of a few who escaped by an early flight with Proctor. The Indians attacked our 
troops on the left, and fought with great fierceness and daring until repulsed with great slaughter. 

The decisive and important battle was thus fought and v. on, in a space of time almost incredibly short, 
and with a very trifling loss only on our side. All the hi ge of the enemy, and their valuable military 
stores, together with the official papers of Proctor, fell into our hands ; and several pieces of brass cannon, 
which had been taken from the British in our revolutionary victories, but which Hull had shamefully sur- 
rendered at Detroit, were asain captured from our ancient foe. 

The United force of the British regulars and Indians engaged in this battle, amounted to more than 
2800 — the number of our troops was less than 2500 — and those were principally militia and volunteers. 
The venerable Governor Shelby commanded the Kentucky volunteers in this battle, and General Cass, the 
late Secretary of War, and the heroic Perry, acted as volunteer aids to General Harrison. This brilliant 
victory, following up the capture of their fleet on Lake Erie by the gallant Perry, entirely destroyed the 
force of the enemy in Upper Canada, and put an end to the war on our north-western iron: 

On receiving the news of this glorious cent, the thanks of Congress were expressed to General Har- 
rison in the warmest manner. Among many others, whose grateful feelings found utterance on this occa- 
sion, the Hon. Langdon Cheves observed, on the floor of Congress, that — ••The victory of Harrison was 
such as would have secured to a Roman General, in the best days ol the Republic, the honors of a triumph." 
A sentiment which was fully responded to, in the complimentary notices which he received from every 
part of the Union. 

Having entirely defeated the enemy in Upper f'anada, General Harrison advanced with a part of his 
army to thedNiagara frontier, and thence to Sackeft's Harbor, where he left the troops and proceeded to the 
seat of government. On his way thither, lie passed through New York and Philadelphia, in which cities 
he was received with the most flattering marks of pul lie honor and distinction. After the necessary delay 
of a few days at Washington, General Plarrison proceeded to Ohio, where important duties required his 
presence. 

In the plan for the ensuing campaign, to tho surprise and regret of the public. General Harrison was 
designated for a service far inferior to that which he had a right to expect. Regardless of the memorable 
victories which this gallant and experienced officer had won, and unmindful of the various and important 
services which he had rendered to his country, the Secretary of War saw lit to assign to him the command 
of a district, where he would be compelled to remain inactive, while others were appointed to those m ■ 
arduous 'duties, which he had heretofore fulfilled with so much honor to himself and to the nation. As if 
still unsatisfied with the insult he had offered to General Harrison, the Secretary of War, on the 25th of 
April, 1814, appointed a subordinate officer to a separate command within his district, and notified him to 
that effect. On the receipt of this notification, General Harrison instantly addressed a letter to the Secre- 
tary, tendering his resignation, with a notification thereof to the President 

'• As soon as Governor Shelby heard of the resignation of General Harrison, he lost no time in ad- 
dressing the President in his usual forcible terms, to prevent his acceptance of it ; but unfortunately for 
the public interests, the President was then on a visit to Virginia, to which place the letters from General 
Harrison and Governor Shelby were forwarded, and that of the latter was not received until after the Sec- 
retary, Armstrong, without the pkevious consknt of tiif. President, had assumed to himself the 
high prerogative of accepting the resignation. The President expressed his great regret that the letter of 
Governor Shelby had not been received earlier, as in that case the valuable services of General Harrison 
would have been preserved to the country in the ensuing campaign "* 

In this resignation. General Harrison evinced the true patriotism and disinterestedness, which always 
marked his conduct. He would cheerfully have devoted his services to his country, even in an appoint- 
ment inferior to that which should have been assigned to him ; but he was too high principled to retain his 
rank, by yielding assent to a measure which he considered to be subversive of military order and disci- 
pline ; and though his fortune had been shattered by the neglect of his private affairs, for the benefit of the 
public, yet he scorned to receive the par and emoluments of his office, when he was no longer permitted 
to perform its duties actively and honorably. 

It would be difficult, at this period, to trace out the true motives that induced the Secretary of War to 
the unjustifiable course he pursued in this affair. But some knowledge of the events of the war in which 
he bore a part, with a little insight into human nature, would suggest that the leading causes which 
prompted him, were the envy and jealousy, which a narrowminded man would naturally feel, on contrast- 
ing his own feeble efforts and abortive attempts, with the consummate skill, the brilliant victories, and the 
almost uniform successes of another. That he had acted in an arbitrary and unwarrantable manner, was 

* Dawson. 



12 

afterwards clearly proved. And in the investigation which took place in Congress in the winter of 1816 — 
17, it became so evident that General Harrison had been treated with great injustice by the War Depart- 
ment, that a resolution giving him a gold kibai and the thasks of Ooxgress, was passed with but 
one dissenting voice in both houses of Congress.* 

The leading events in the campaigns of 1812 — 13 — the gallant defence of Fort Meigs, and the deci- 
sive victory of the Thames — are lasting memorials of General Harrison's military genius. Yet, for these 
isolated actions, he deserves far less praise than for the skilful operations, and the Fabian policy, which led 
to these and other successes. The prudent care and indefatigable exertions, by which he provided for his 
army in a wild and devastated country — the promptness and unwearied activity with which he met and de- 
feated the schemes of his antagonists — and the admirable skill with which he held in check an enemy far 
superior in numbers, and with a small force protected ail extended line of frontier, and guarded the lives 
and property of thousands of his fellow citizens, betokened a genius of the highest order, with a vigorous 
mind constantly on the alert. 

Soon after his resignation, in the summer of 1814, Mr. Madison evinced his unabated confidence in 
the abilities and integrity of General Harrison, by appointing him to treat with the Indians, in conjunction 
with his old companions in arms, Governor Shelby and General Cass. And in the following year, he was 
placed at the head of another commission, appointed to treat with the north-western tribes. The advanta- 
geous 'treaties made in both these cases, afforded new instances of the unfailing success that has always 
attended General Harrison's negotiations with the Indians. 

In 1816, he was elected, by a large majority, a member of the House of Representatives in Congress, 
from Ohio, In this station he served, greatly to his own honor, and to the satisfaction of his constituents, until 
1819; when, on the expiration of his term of service, he was chosen to the Senate of the State Legislature. 

In 1824, he was elected a Senator of the United States, from Ohio. While serving in this high sta- 
tion, he commanded universal respect. His views as a Statesman were liberal and extended ; his remark- 
able readiness in debate soon rendered him a prominent member ; and the nervous and impassioned elo- 
quence, and classical felicity of illustration with which he enforced his arguments, gained him much influ- 
ence. 

In 1828, he was appointed by Mr. Adams Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the 
Republic, of Colombia. He accepted this appointment, and repaired, without delay, to the scene of his 
duties, where he was received with every demonstration of respect. He found this unhappy country in a 
deplorable condition — the people ignorant of their rights, and almost in a state of anarchy, and Bolivar 
apparently about to assume the despotic power of a military dictator. Shocked at this state of things, with 
the frankness of an old soldier, he wrote his celebrated letter to Bolivar, from which, as we have not space 
for the whole letter, we take the liberty of quoting the following extracts : 

"I contend," said General Harrison, " that the strongest of all governments is that which is most 
free. We consider that of the United States as the strongest, precisely because it is the most free. It 
possesses the faculties, equally to protect itself from foreign force or internal convulsion. In both it has 
been sufficiently tried. In no country on earth would an armed opposition to the laws be sooner or more 
effectually put down. Not so much from the terrors of the guillotine and the gibbet, as from the aroused 
determination of the. nation, exhibiting their strength, and convincing the factious that their cause was 
hopeless." ****** 

" In bestowing the palm of merit, the world has become wiser than formerly. The successful war- 
rior is no longer regarded as entitled to the first place in the temple of fame. Talents of this kind have be- 
come too common, and too often used for mischievous purposes, to be regarded as they once were. In this 
enlightened age, the mere hero of the field, and the successful leader of armies, may, for the moment, at- 
tract attention. But it will be such as is bestowed on the pissing meteor, whose blaze is no longer remem- 
l>ered, when it is no longer seen. To be esteemed eminently great, it is necessary to be eminently good. 
The qualities of the hero and the general, must be devoted to the advantage of mankind, before he will be 
permitted to assume the title of their benefactor; and the station which he will hold in their regard and 
alfections will depend, not upon the number and splendor of his victories, but upon the results and the use 
he may make of the influence he acquires from them." 

" If the fame of our Washington depended upon his military achievements, would the common con- 
sent of the world allow him the pre-eminence he possessses 1 The victories at Trenton, Monmouth, and 
York, brilliant as they were, exhibiting as they certainly did the highest grade of military talents, are 
scarcely thought of. The source of the veneration and esteem which is entertained for his character by 
every description of politicians, the monarchist and aristocrat, as well as the republican, is to be found in 

*The following is the resolution referred to: 
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress as- 
sembled, That the thanks of Congress be, and they are hereby, presented to Mai. (Jen. WILLIAM HENRY 
HARRISON, and Isaac Shelby, late Governor of Ky., and, through them to the officers and men under 
their command, for their gallantry and good conduct in defeating the combined British and Indian forces 
under Major General Proctor, on the Thames, in Upper Canada, on the fifth day of October, one thousand 
eight hundred and thirteen, capturing the British army, with their baggage, camp equipage, and artillery ; 
and that the Pr -sident of the United States be requested to cause two gold medals to be struck, emblem- 
atical of this triumph, and presented to General Harrison and Isaac Shelby, late Governor of Kentucky. 

H. Clay, Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
John Gaillarh, President of the Senate, pro tempore. 
April 4, 1818.— Approved, JAMES MONROE. 



13 

his imdeviating and exclusive devotedness to the interest of his country. No selfish consideration was 
■ever suffered to intrude itself into his mind. For his country he conquered ; and the unrivalled and in- 
creasing prosperity of that country, is constantly adding fresh glory to his name." 

We regret that our limits will not permit us to inseit the whole of this vigorous and beautiful pro- 
duction. But the few passages we have quoted, contain a fair specimen of the noble sentiments which 
characterize this letter, and give evidence of the pure republican principles, which have ever distinguished 
this eminent Statesman. 

General Harrison remained in Colombia but a short time, having been recalled by the present admin- 
istration, soon after it came into power. 

Since his return from this mission, he has lived in comparative retirement, in Ohio, the State of his 
adoption. With the most enticing opportunities of accumulating wealth, during his long government of 
Indiana, and superintendency of Indian affairs, he acquired none ; his honest and scrupulous integrity, was- 
proof against the golden temptations. His time and best energies were devoted to the service of his coun- 
try, and his own interests were ever, with him, a secondary consideration. He therefore retired without 
the spoils of office, and with only a competency barely sufficient for his support; hut rich in a reputation 
undimmed by a single tarnish, and in the honor and respect of all his fellow citizens. 

General Harrison is now sixty-five years of age; (about six years younger than President Jackson ;) 
but such have been the activity and temperate habits of his past life, that he enjoys his moral and physical 
energies in remarkable vigor. In person he is tall ar.d thin ; his features are irregular, but his eyes are- 
dark, keen and penetrating ; his forehead is expansive ; his mouth peculiarly indicative of firmness and 
genius ; and his countenance is highly expressive of intelligence and benevolence. His manners are plain, 
frank and unassuming, and his disposition is cheerful, kind and generous, almost to a fault. In his pri- 
vate intercourse, he is beloved and esteemed by all who know him. In the various civs! and military offi- 
ces he has held, he has always been moderate and'forhearing, yet firm and true to his trust. No otheir 
commander has ever been more popular with our militia, and the true secret of this cannot be better ex- 
plained than by his own reply, when asked how he had gained this influence : " By treating them," said 
he, "with affection and kindness, by always recollecting that they were my fellow citizens, whose feelings 
I was bound to respect ; and by sharing with them, on every occasion, the hardships which they were 
obliged to undergo." 

In the republican institutions of our country, birth and parentage are comparatively of very little im- 
portance ; and no candidate for public favor can found thereon the slightest claim to the respect e-r the sup- 
port of his fellow citizens. We have happily shaken oil' the thralling prejudices of the old world, and a 
title to office and honorable distinction is not with us hereditary ; but every man must earn his own "-ood 
name, and his claim to the favor of the people, by his own good deeds. Yet, aware, as every one must be- 
of the powerful influence of early education, it is worthy of remark, as well as gratifying to know, that a 
candidate for public office, in whom we feel an interest, passed all the early years of his life with the bright- 
est examples constantly before him ; and under the parental tuition of one of those illustrious patriots,, 
whose memory is revered by every true-hearted American. It is pleasing to know, that his first political 
sentiments were imbibed in a school of the purest republican principles. And when we trace up the ca- 
ieer of this individual, from the spring-time of his youth, to the summer of his manhood and to the early 
autumn of his years, and see those principles closely adhered to throughout, we can scarcely resist the con- 
viction, that his future course will be consistent with the past; and that, with matured abilities, he will be 
still more conspicuous for his republican principles, his moderation in office, his firm integrity, and his ex- 
tended and enlightened views as a Statesman. Such were the early advantages of William Henry Harri- 
son ; such has been Ms course thus far through life ; and such is now the bright promise, to a realization 
of which we may safely look forward, should the people see (it to place him in office. 

The friends of General Harrison found no claim on his military services. His own sentiments on 
this subject we have already quoted ; and his friends would scorn, as much as he would, any attempt to 
dazzle a single one of his fellow citizens by the gloiy of his military renown, brilliant though it be. They 
would rather point to his numerous civil services, in the forty years he has devoted to his country; to the 
various and important offices he has so ably filled — in the territorial governments, in the Legislature of 
his own State, and in the House of Representatives and Senate of the United States; and to the high or- 
der of abilities displayed in his speeches in Congress, in his public acts, and in his voluminous public cor- 
respondence. And we here take occasion to say, that all his letters and public papers have been exclu- 
sively written by himself; and that so far from his having called in the mental aid of another, to prepare 
his messages and despatches, as some of our distinguished men have condescended to do, he has never 
even employed an amanuensis, to perform the manual labor of his correspondence. His ruling principles, 
through life, appear to have been, an ardent love for his country, and an earnest desire to serve her best 
interests; with a devotion to the pure republican maxims of the Revolution, always unwavering and con- 
sistent; unlike the scheming politicians of a more modern school, whose own interest is the polar star that 
guides them, whatever may betide their country. 

With tried patriotism, with abilities of the highest order, with integrity pure as the unsullied snow, 
and with the truest republican principles, William Henry Harrison is now before his fellow citizens, as a, 
candidate for the highest office in their gift. In the long course of his public life, he has always been a 
staunch advocate of popular rights, and is therefore truly the candidate of the people. He cmies be-, 
fore them, not with a crowd of pampered and still-grasping officials to intrigue and bribe for him, but with 
the noble frankness of an honorable and high-minded man, willing and desirous to be judged impartially 
by his fellow citizens, and ready to abide by their honest decision. 



14 



APPENDIX. 

Since the nomination of General Plarrison for the Presidency, numerous objections have sprung into 
existence. This was not unexpected, nor should it be especially deprecated by those who desire the. suc- 
cess of the nomination. The lire of the Hint is elicited only by collision. Truth is established, where 
there are worshippers of error, only by labor and patient investigation. The friends of the nomination 
will surely be benefitted by the inquiries and discussions which opposition excites. Unfortunately for their 
authors, the objections to General Harrison have been drawn rather from the inventive genius of those who 
would be displeased by his election, than from the pages of true history. We select a few of the more 
prominent objections for brief notice here, and dismiss the more numerous but less important ones, with 
the remark, simply, that they are, in almost every instance, as unfounded as these : 

B. Tlae Charge oiT Federalism. 

This charge is unfounded. " Judge Burnet, who has known General Harrison forty years, and who 
was himself a Senator in Congress from Ohio, declares that he (Gen. Harrison) " was a firm, consistent, 
unyielding Republican of the Jefferson school, and warmly advocated the election of Mr. Jefferson against 
Mr. Adams." 

General Harrison supported Mr. Jefferson's administration, and was appointed Indian Commissioner, 
and Governor of Indiana, by Mr. Jefferson. He also supported Mr. Madison's and Mr. Monroe's admi- 
nistration, and was re-appointed Governor of Indiana by Mr. Madison, and received from him also, the ap- 
pointment of Major General in the Army. 

In a letter published in the Cincinnati Inquisiter, under date of the 17th September, 1822, General 
Harrison declares that he is "a Republican of the old Jeff erspnian school," and derives his principles of 
constitutional interpretation "from the a :■ brat i resolutions of'the Virginia Legislature, of '1)8 and '99;" 
that he therefore " denies to the General Government the exercise of any power but what is expressly 
given to it by the Constitution, or what is essentially necessary to carry the powers given into effect ;" that 
"he believes the charter given to the bank of the U. S. was unconstitutional ;" that " he believes the ten- 
dency of a large public debt to be to sap the foundation of the Constitution, by creating a moneyed aristo- 
cracy, whose views and interests must be in direct hostility to those of the mass of the people;" and that 
he is, therefore, " in favor of every practicable retrenchment in the expenditures of the Government," &c. 

In a debate in the (J. S. Senate, in March, 1826, in reply to some observations of Mr. Randolph, 
General Harrison said, "his opposition to the alien and sedition hues was so well known in the Terri- 
tory, that a promise was extorted from him by his friends in the Legislature, that, as he had no vote in the 
proceedings of Congress, he would not unnecessarily compromise the local interests of his constituents by 
the expression of his political opinions;" John Adams being, at the time he was sent a delegate to Con- 
gress, President of the United Stat. s. 

General Harrison further said : " he was not in Congress when the standing army was created, and 
the alien and sedition laws were passed, and if he had been, he could not have voted for them, and would 
not, if he could. It was not in his nature to be a violent or prescriptive partizan, but he had given a firm 
support to the republican administration of Jefferson,, Madison and Monroe." 

His principles, as more full] developed in his letter to Sherrod Williams, in 1836, and in his letter to 
Harmar Denny, in 1S38, are truly Democratic Republican, according to the understanding and definition 
of those principles by Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Madison, and their Republican cotemporaries and coadjutors. 

S. Tlie Charge ©£* Afcolifionisui. 

This charge is utterly groundless, and without apology. It is so palpable a misrepresentation, that it 
would seem to be urged in mere wantonness. There are scarcely to be found in the productions of any 
statesman of this Union, more energetic and unsparing denunciations of the schemes of the Abolitionists, 
than are embodied in the writings of General Harrison. 

In his address at Cheviot, in Ohio, on the 4th of July, 1833, he maintained in strong and unqualified 
language that, "the slave population is under the exclusive control of the States which possess them," and 
that "neither the Genera! Government nor the •non-slavcholding States can interfere in any way, with 
the right of property in slaves;" and he denounced, at the same time, the schemes of the Abolitionists as 
fraught with "horrors, upon which an incarnate devil only could look with approbation." 

In a speech made by him at Yincennes, in Indiana, in 1835, he pronounced the schemes of the Abo- 
litionists to be " weak', presumptuous and unconstitutional" — " illegal, persecuting and dangerous," and 
broadly maintained that the subject of slavery is under the exclusive jurisdiction of the South; and he 
moreover deprecated discussion upon the subject in the non-slavcholding States, as an abuse of the free- 
dom of speech, tending in its consequences to jeopard the peace and impair the rights of the slaveholding 
States. 

But, a brief and explicit definition of his position on this subject, was given in the following letter, 
addressed to a gentleman of New Orleans of much respectability : 



, 15 

" Cincinnati, 26th November, 1886. 
" My Dear Sir ■ 

"I answer the questions you proposed to me this morning, with great pleasure. 

" 1st. I do not believe that Congress can abolish slavery in the States, or in any manner interfere 
with the property of the citizens in their slaves, but upon the application of the States, in which case, and 
in no other, they might appropriate money to aid the States so applying to g«t rid of their slaves. These 
opinions I have always held, and this was the ground upon which I voted against the Missouri restriction 
in the 15th Congress. The opinions given above are precisely those which were entertained by Mr. Jef- 
ferson and Mr. Madison. 

" 2d. I do nut believe that Congress can abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, ivithout the 
consent if the States of Virginia and Maryland, and ike people of the District. 

" I received a letter, some time since, from John M. Berrien, Esq., of Georgia, proposing questions si- 
milar to those made by you, and I answered them more at length than I have now done, but to the same 
import. " In haste, yours truly, 

W. H. HARRISON. . 

"To Thomas Sloo, Jr., 

of New Orleans, now in Cincinnati." 

' 3. The Charge of seiEIaBg- White Men. for Debt. 

This charge is untrue. In the year 1821, while the Legislature of Ohio were revising the criminal 
laws of that State, the House of Representatives passed, unanimously, an act to punish petty larcenies, 
which contained a provision that when any person should be imprisoned, for failure to pay the fine or 
costs imposed or incurred upon his offence, it should be lawful to sell out such person as' a servant to any 
one within the State who would pay the amount, or, in other words relieve him from punishment by im- 
prisonment, for the shortest period of service — the relation of the purchaser and prisoner for the time being, 
to be that of master am! servant. General Harrison, with eleven others'; voted against a motion to strike 
out this feature of the. act. The provision was voted for at the time as a substitute for whipping, and was 
i considered the most mild and humane policy. It was not novel. Similar enactments had been in force 
in the same State since 1797. and have been long in force in Maine, Delaware, Illinois, Missouri, and other 
States. It was also a measure of public relief. The jails of the State had become so filled with petty 
thieves, who considered their support by the State a bounty for the violation of its laws, that a deficit of 
£20.000 had occurred in the penitentiary fund. The vole of General Harrison was, therefore, not only 
dictated by humane feelings, but by sound policy. There is a wide difference between " selling men for 
debt," and hiring out men to service as a meliorated form of inflicting a penalty for crime. 

General Harrison closes a letter on this subject, to the editor of the Cincinnati Advertiser, with the 
following paragraph : 

" 1 would appeal to the candor of your correspondent to say whether, if there were an individual con- 
fined under the circumstances I have mentioned; for whose fate he was interested, he would not gladly see 
him transferred from the filthy enclosure of a jail, and the still more filthy inhabitants, to the comfortable 
mansion of some virtuous citizen, whose admonitions would check his vicious propensities, and whose au- 
thority over him would be no more than is exercised over thousands of apprentices in our country, and 
those bound servants which are tolerated in our, as well as in every other State in the Union. Far from 
advocating the abominable principles attributed to me by your (indent, 1 Hunk that imprisonment 

for debt, under any circumstances but that where fraud is alleged, is at war with the best principles of 
our Constitution, and ought to be abolished. 

I am, sir, your hurnblo servant, 

North Send, Dec. 22, 1821. WM, H. HARRISON. 

The charge above alluded to, and a variety of other equally "weak inventions of the enemy," were 
circulated in handbills amongst the people of Ohio at the Presidential election, in 1S3G, and the State, not- 
withstanding, gave General Harrison a majority of ten thousand votes over all others, for the Presidency. 

4. In relation to the TariiE 

Very gross and wanton injustice' has been done General Harrison, by perverting a passage in an ad- 
dress delivered by him to an Agricultural Society in Ohio, in 18151, so as to make the impression that he 
would not be willing to relax or abandon the Tariff policy, " till under its operation the grass was found 
to grow in the streets of Norfolk and Charleston." The truth is. that this expression was quoted by Gen- 
eral Harrison from an agricultural address of Mr. James M. Garnett of Virginia, who had argued that such 
was the actual effect of the Tariff on the South; and General Harrison, responding to the argument, de- 
clared, if such were really its effect, then " he would instantly give his voice for its modification or entire 
repeal." The sentiments of General Harrison are known to be those of great liberality on this subject ; 
for, in his Cheviot speech he declares, with as much justness of thought as elegance of expression, that 
" even in cases where the injuiious operation of a measure of the General Government is confined to a 
few, and it is beneficial to a large majority of the States, it would be evidence of as little foresight as of 
moral rectitude in the latter, to countenance the injury." 



* 



"The I^o§- Cabin and 

Gen. Hakiuson, when parting from a regiment 
of his soldiers, just after the Indian war, said to them: 
" Gentlemen, if you ever come to Vincennes, you 
will always find a plate and a knife and fork at my 
tahle, and I assure you that you will never find my 
door shut and the siring of the latch pulled in" 

This cut represents the veteran HARRISON as 
he now lives, a private citizen, in the act of wel- 
coming an old soldier into his cabin, where he had 
some friends at dinner. He introduced him thus : 
" Gentlemen, here is one of my old comrades, who 
has done battle for his country, and he will take a 
6eat with us at table." The soldier, thus introdu- 
ced, was received with open arms and joyful hearts 
by the company. 



aril Cider Candidate." 




Am Elotpaesfct jtecord. 

WILLIAM II . HARRISON was born in Virginia, on the 9th February, 1773. 
In 1791, when 19 years of age, he was appointed by Washington an Ensign in our infant army. 
In 1792, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant ; and in '.793, joined the legion under General 
Wayne, and in a few days thereafter, was selected by him as one of his Aids. 

On the 24th of August, 1794, he distinguished himself in the battle of the Miami, and elicited the 
most flattering written approbation of General Wayne. 

In 1795, he was made a Captain, and was placed in command of Fort Washington. 
In 1797, he was appointed, by President Adams, Secretary of the Northwestern Territory, and ex- 
offlcio Lieut. Governor. 

In 1798, he was chosen a delegate to Congress. 

In 1801, he was appointed Governor of Indiana, and in the same year, President Jefferson appointed 
him sole Commissioner for treating with the Indians. 

In 1809, he was re-appointed Governor of Indiana by Madison. 
On the 7th November, 1811, he gained the great victory of TIPPECANOE. 

On the 11th September, 1812, he was appointed by Madison, Commander-in-Chief of the North- 
western Army. 

On the 1st May, 1813, the siege of Fort Meigs commenced — lasted five days, and was terminated by 
the brilliant and successful sortie of General Harrison. 

On the 31st July, 1813, the battle of Fort Stephenson occurred. 

On the 5th October, 1S13, he gained the splendid victory of the THAMES, over the British and 
Indians under Proctor. 

In 1814, he was appointed by Madison one of the Commissioners to treat with the Indians ; and in 
the same year, with his colleagues Gov. Shelby and Gen. Cass, concluded the celebrated treaty of Green- 
ville. 

In 1815, he was again appointed such Commissioner, with Gen. McAnhur and Mr. Graham, and 
negotiated a treaty at Detroit. 

In 18 1 G, he was elected a member of Congress. 

In January, 1818, he introduced a resolution in honor of Kosciusko, and supported it in one of the 
most feeling, classical and eloquent speeches ever delivered in the House of Representatives. 
In 1819, he was elected a member of the Ohio Senate. 

In 1821, he was elected Senator in Congress, and was appointed in 1S25, Chairman of the Military 
Committee, in place of Gen. Jackson, who had resigned. 

In 1827, he was appointed Minister to Colombia, and in 1S29, wrote his immortal letter to Bolivar, 
the deliverer of South America. 

Of him Col. Johnson (Vice-President) thus spoke in the House of Representatives whilst a member 
of that body : — " Of the career of (Jen. Harrison I need not speak — the history of the west is his history. 
For forty jears he has been identified with its interests, its perils and its hopes. Universally beloved in 
the walks of peace, and distinguished by his ability in the councils of his country, he has been yet more 
illustriously distinguished in the field. During the late war, he was longer in actual service than any 
other General Officer; he was, perhaps, oftener in action than any one of them, and never sustained a 
defeat." 

Such is the man, who still enjoying his untarnished fame arrd glory, and standing on a proud and 
lofty eminence, where neither malice or envy car. assail him, is now summoned by his grateful country- 
men to leave the quiet walks of private life, to guide the councils of the nation, " and deliver the country 
from the dangers which encompass it." And uk will nc nun bk:lit:biieb ! ! !! ! ! _,. --„ 

f\W 8 









I 






HK* li^ ^iBfc -^^^ **o* 






.** °^ * a V ••v* 9 % v 



















V "OV '^ff^ 0* -:-. 






A 






k ' 



^ 













/ 



' *. 



* >- 



• * O 









o. 



rr, t» ,o 









y oV° 







jr .l 






% 














w ••»'- %/ 'isKfe V* 







^ 



* *> 




/.. 25 



V** 













.'; 



C_ *."^^,' * 



.^ C 













•iv.V ,**\.^.\ /.^-A >*.^:.V 

.-«»'■ **o« »•* :«*■*■• *■* 




w »}» v "& 



a? .L^L* 



,o v ^ **r^r» or ? .0 



■ ■. " 
















1 



.# • 



*> 







,o > 



.0 



A v 












:v 



v 



o, •■ « . 1 • aO 












$•/%. 






^ 






aP »Ll 







5> ^ 






